The flaw led to personal data belonging to 500,000 members of the social network not being properly protected.

Google has announced it is now ending access to the service to the wider public.

Image copyrightGoogleImage captionThe smaller Pixel 3 has a 5.5in screen while the Pixel 3 XL has a 6.3in display – both larger than last year’s models

The Pixel phones will not be directly affected by the move, but do make use of several of the firm’s cloud-based technologies including Google Photos – an image storage service that was spun out from Google+ three years ago.

One industry-watcher said part of the company’s motivation for offering the Pixel 3 and larger Pixel 3 XL was to promote “the best of Google”, adding that the message would now be harder to convey.

“The value proposition of Pixel is not just the hardware but the whole Google experience,” explained Carolina Milanesi from the consultancy Creative Strategies.

“If you’re starting to question Google and whether or not you want to be entrenched in its services, then the value that you’ll see in the handsets will decline.”

Despite positive reviews for previous editions of the Pixel, they have been niche products.

Google attained a peak smartphone market share of just 0.53% in the final three months of 2017, according to market research firm IDC, and has since seen that drop to 0.14%.

Photo advances

Many of the benefits of the new phones are derived from them coming with the latest version of Android and integrating Google’s services more seamlessly. For example, the firm’s virtual assistant can now be triggered by squeezing the devices’ sides.

But the Pixel team also hopes several photography-related features will have special appeal.

Unusually, the handsets now have more cameras on their fronts than rears.

A second wide-angle lens has been added to the phones’ face to make it easier to take group shots without the need for a selfie stick. Software is automatically applied to the resulting images to correct for distortions.

Image copyrightGoogleImage captionGoogle says the Pixel 3 camera can capture 184% more of the scene in a selfie than Apple’s iPhone XS

In addition, algorithms originally developed for the firm’s standalone Clips camera have been integrated to automatically take photos at the best moment – for example just as subjects smile or open their eyes – to avoid the need for a button tap.

However, the firm has kept to a single rear camera on both models despite a trend among other firms to build more into their premium models.

It works by taking several frames at different exposures and then merging the data together while using machine learning-trained software to add back colour.

This approach contrasts with that of Samsung, which introduced a dual-aperture lens to allow more light in when required.

The executive responsible, Mario Queiroz, said Google had deliberately sought out software-based solutions.

“You can brute-force your way to functionality by putting in a bunch of hardware,” he explained.

“But I think you may be wasting hardware in that case and potentially making your phone more costly.”

One expert suggested this approach could backfire.

“Despite the fact Google has already proved that having a single lens offering exceptional performance can pay off, to the uneducated consumer there’s a natural assumption that two lenses are better and three lenses spectacularly so,” commented Ben Wood from the consultancy CCS Insight.

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